Rail-bond.



No. 642,553. Patented Jan. 30, I900.

C. J. MAYER.

RAIL BOND.

(Application filed Dec. 1, 1899.)

(No Model.)

a w Za NITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

CHARLES J. MAYER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE PROTECTED RAIL BOND COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAIL-BOND.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 642,553, dated January 30, 1900.

7 Application filed December 1,1899. Serial No. 738,777. (No model.)

T0 in whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. MAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Bonds, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention has relation toa bond for electrically connecting the meeting ends of rails for electric railroads, and in such connection it relates more particularly to the construction and arrangement of such a rail-bond.

The principal objects of my invention are, first, to provide a rail-bond which can be readily applied to a laterally-projecting member of the rails after said rails have been secured in position on the road-bed and without disturbing said road-bed second, to provide a rail-bond wherein the terminal studs are adapted to engage the projecting member of the rail at its strongest portion, said studs being also arranged so that they maybe easily inserted in and'fastened to said rail member; third, to provide in connection with the railbond and its studs a rail member having an opening for the reception of a stud, said opening being of a shape corresponding to the pillar of the stud and adaptedto be engaged by said pillars at all points in its interior when said pillar is expanded by pressure exerted vertically on said pillar to fasten the stud to the rail member and to thereby secure an increase in the conductive area between the stud and rail member; fourth, to provide in a rail-bond a terminal stud comprising a pillar and a base flange or shoulder, said flange being arranged at an angle to the pillar and adapted to be closely pressed into conductive engagement with the rail member when the pillar is expanded by pressure exerted vertically on said pillar fifth, to provide in a railbond a terminal stud comprising a pillar and a base flange or shoulder, the lower face of the flange being arranged obliquely to its upper face and at right angles to the pillar, the

upper end of said pillar and the lower face of said flange being arranged in planes parallel to the upper surface of the rail member to which the stud is secured, and, sixth, to provide a rail-bond comprising two terminal studs united by a series of strips or strands nested together and bent in a plane at right angles to the lower face of the rail-members connected by said bond,said connectingstrips 5 5 or strands being so arranged as to permit of a movement of the rail members in either a longitudinal, vertical, or lateral plane.

My invention, stated in general terms, consists of a rail-bond constructed and arranged in substantially the manner hereinafter de scribed and claimed.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection wit-h the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a railjoint provided with a rail-bond embodying main features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one of the rails, taken near one of the terminal studs of the bond, the bond being illustrated in end elevation. Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of one of the terminal studs detached from the bond and prior to its attachment to the rail. Figs.

4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating modified forms of the invention. Fig.

6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the strips or strands forming the flexible eonnection between the terminal studs of the railbond, and Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a rail-joint having a form of rail-bond which is a modification of the form illustrated in Fig. 1.

' Referring to the drawings, a to represent the meeting ends of two rails, preferably of the T-shaped type. Each rail a is provided with a laterally-projecting member a, which in the form of rail illustrated is the base of the go rail. As is well known in rails of this type,

the under surface a of the base is horizontal or flat, whereas the upper surface a of said base is inclined. In the form illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 each rail has in its base aa perforation or opening a in the form of a section of a reversed cone, the upper part of the opening being outwardly flaring. In each perforation a of each rail is adapted to be inserted the pillar b of a terminal stud of the bond. This pillar b is substantially cylindrical or very slightly conical, with its top slightly smaller than its base.

The pillar 1) projects at an angle upward from a base I), the upper surface 19 of which lies in the same horizontal plane as does the under surface a of the rail member a, whereas its lower surface b lies in a plane obliquely to this surface a but parallel with the upper inclined surface a of said rail member. The vertical central axis of the pillar b is at right angles to the lower surface 12 of the base b of the stud. The pillar I) therefore projects at an oblique angle from the surface b of the base I), which rests against the flat face of the rail member, and hence when the stud is in position its pillar 1) projects .through the opening a at an angle to the web a and other upright portions of the rail. This peculiar arrangement of pillar and base of the stud permits of its ready insertion into the opening a and likewise permits of the lower face of the base I) and the upper face of the pillar 1) being clamped in a suitable press or riveter to compress the pillar in a direction along its vertical axis even when the rails a. a have been previously secured in place in the road-bed. This is so because the upper parts or heads of the rails are to one side of the line in which the pressure is exerted upon the pillar. The peculiar formation of the base b and its arrangement with respect to the pillar b are such that when the riveting pressure is exerted upon the pillar the pillar is permitted to completely fill and engage the entire interior of the conical opening a in the rail, and the base I) is drawn upward into close conductive contact with the rail member without disturbing but increasing the required conductive area of the stud.

In Fig. L the construction of the stud is the same as in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but the opening in the rail member is cylindrical instead of conical through a portion of its length, the upper portion of the rail member being, however, reamed out, as at a, to form an enlargement into which the material of the pillar is forced to form a head when the pressure is applied, as hereinbefore set forth. In this modification the opening is drilled or punched at an oblique angle to the base of the rail member.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5 the opening is arranged at right angles to the base member, and in this form the pillar I9 is accordingly arranged at right angles to the upper face of the base a of the stud.

The two terminal studs are connected by a flexible connection which is yielding to the movements of the meeting rails in either a vertical, a longitudinal, or a lateral direction or plane. The preferred form of flexible connection is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6 of the drawings, and it consists of a series of strips or strands d nested together, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 6. These strips or strands when so nested are bent into substantially U shape, the bend cl being made in a plane at right angles to the plane passing through the rail member. Such a flexible connection will permit of the movement of the meeting ends of the rails as may be required either in a vertical, longitudinal, or lateral direction without the disengagement of the studs from the rail member and without undue strain on the connection between the studs and the rails.

In Fig. 7 a modification of the flexible connection is illustrated, in which the strips or strands 61 when nested have been bent into substantially W shape. In this instance two lower bends d and an upper bend d are made in the connection in a plane at right angles to the plane of the rail members a.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rail-bond, in combination with a laterally-projecting rail member, having two faces, whereof one is in a plane inclined to the plane of the other face, a terminal stud comprising a pillar adapted to enter a suitable opening in the rail member,and a base, said base having two faces respectively arranged in planes parallel to the faces of the rail member, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a rail-bond, in combination with a laterally-projecting rail member having a horizontal under face and an upper inclined face, a terminal stud comprising a pillar adapted to enter a suitable opening in the rail member and a base having an upper horizontal face adapted to lie adjacent to the under face of the rail member, the lower face of said base being inclined in a plane parallel to the plane of the upper inclined face of the rail member, substantially as and for the purposes described. y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. MAYER. Witnesses:

J. WALTER DOUGLASS, THOMAS M. SMITH. 

